Long Island Teen Dies After Collapsing At State Cross Country Championships

November 16, 2012

SOUTHOLD, N.Y. (AP) - A Long Island teenager has died five days after suffering a cardiac arrest and collapsing during an upstate New York sporting event.

Newsday reports that 14-year-old Ronan Guyer collapsed Nov. 9 at the statewide cross-country championship in Elma, about 15 miles from Buffalo.

The teen's uncle, Ed Plaia, said Guyer slipped on a patch of mud and hit the ground hard with his chest. The teen spent several days in a medically induced coma at a nearby hospital. He died Wednesday night.

Guyer was a freshman at Southold High School on Long Island. District superintendent David Gamberg said he was "a genuinely kind, caring and compassionate person who was well-liked by students and staff."